If most approve, as expected, the NHL will move one step closer towards the official end of the long lockout that began on September 16.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a memorandum of understanding of the deal hadn't been completed, so the union has yet to schedule a vote for its more than 700 members. A majority of players also must approve the deal for hockey to return to the ice.
"We continue to document the agreement," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told AP on Tuesday in an email.
If there are no snags, ratification could be finished by Saturday and training camps can open from Sunday if approval is reached on both sides. A 48-game regular season would then be expected to begin on January 19.
"(We) don't need a signed document to complete ratification process," Daly wrote, "but we do need a signed agreement to open camps. The goal is to get that done by Saturday so that we can open camps on Sunday."
The NHL has yet to release a new schedule. The regular season was supposed to begin on October 11.
The deal was reached last Sunday on the 113th day of the lockout and seemingly saved the season that was delayed for three months and cut almost in half. It took a 16-hour final bargaining session in a New York hotel for the agreement to finally be completed around 5am local time.
The lockout led to the cancellation of at least 480 games. That brings the total of lost regular-season games to a minimum 2178 during three lockouts under Commissioner Gary Bettman.
The damage is significant. Perhaps $1 billion in revenue could be lost this season, given about 40 per cent of the regular-season schedule won't be played.
Players will also lose a large part of their salaries, not to mention time lost in their careers.